


Not a Courtly Romance

by Woldy



Category: Merlin (BBC) RPF
Genre: Anonymous Sex, Bechdel Test Pass, Character of Color, F/F, First Time, Happy Ending, POV Female Character, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-18
Updated: 2010-04-18
Packaged: 2017-10-09 00:49:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/81237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woldy/pseuds/Woldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What nobody ever mentioned is what to do if you hooked up with someone <em>before</em> discovering that you had to work together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not a Courtly Romance

The first day on the set of Merlin is one of the most awkward days in Katie's life.

"Katie, this is Angel. She'll be playing Gwen," Julian says, gesturing at a striking woman with dark curly hair. "Gwen, this is Katie, our Morgana. You'll have a lot of scenes together, so you probably want to get to know each other a bit."

Katie takes one look at Angel, and the recollection of a drunken night at a party in London several months ago hits her with full force.

Unlike most actors her age Katie didn't come into acting through stage school, so everything she knows was learned on set. One of the very first things she learned was not to sleep with your co-stars. She remembers several people pulling her aside to explain that being willing to do sex scenes was great, but actually sleeping with another actor was considered unprofessional.

Katie's been working her arse off ever since she got her chance on-screen in _The Tudors_, and there was no way a fleeting attraction to some cute actor was going to throw her career off-track.

What nobody ever mentioned is what to do if you hooked up with someone _before_ discovering that you had to work together. Now, staring into Angel's face and with her boss looking on, Katie considers this a serious omission from her professional education.

Katie pastes a smile on her face and extends a hand, "Nice to meet you."

Angel's smile is equally forced. "Likewise," she says, and releases Katie's hand a moment too soon for politeness.

As soon as Julian leaves, Katie makes her excuses and hurries away. She gets drawn into a conversation with Bradley about Morgana and Arthur's relationship, and then has a costume fitting that lasts until lunchtime. The afternoon is spent learning sword drills, which both Katie and Bradley prove to be terrible at, but the clash of wooden swords and ache in Katie's muscles allow her to temporarily forget about the problem of Angel.

That night, lying up to her neck in hot water and bubbles, Katie takes stock of things. This situation is, she decides, thoroughly unfair.

By the standards of the television world Katie is neither promiscuous, nor sexually adventurous. She has kissed perhaps a dozen blokes and one woman, ever, so having her turn up on the set is spectacularly bad luck. Or good luck, she thinks, remembering how Angel had arched against her, before ruthlessly quashing that thought.

The night she met Angel, Katie was at a party in Islington thrown by a friend of a friend, drinking chardonnay and mingling with artists and actors who could barely afford rent. The first thing she noticed about Angel was her fantastic legs, which were shown off by a short dress that hugged her curves. Katie had said, "That's a great dress, it looks beautiful on you," without intending it as flirting, so ending up in the bathroom with their knickers round their ankles was unexpected to say the least.

She remembers pressing Angel against the wall, kissing hungrily, their hands moving fast and slick. She remembers the way Angel's body arched against her, lean belly and silky-smooth skin, her breasts spilling out of a cream lace bra. Most of all she remembers the musky taste on her lips afterwards, and the sight of Angel walking away, fabric sliding over her naked hips because her knickers lay abandoned on the floor. It wasn't the kind of night Katie could forget.

Just thinking about that night is enough to get Katie thoroughly hot and bothered. She gets out of the bath, quickly towels her hair dry and then - having checked that her door is firmly locked - rummages in her suitcase to find her vibrator.

Things don't get any less excruciatingly awkward the next morning, because when Katie comes down to breakfast she finds Angel sitting alone, eating cereal. She can't help wondering what would have happened if they'd gone home together after the party, what else they might have got up to and how the morning after would have been. Then Katie realises that she is _fantasising about her co-star at 7 AM in a hotel breakfast room,_ turns on her heel and flees. She wastes twenty minutes applying make-up in her room, and by the time she returns for some toast Angel has already gone.

Katie spends the day avoiding Angel, and judging by the sideways looks that Angel gives her the feeling is mutual. God only knows how they'll get through filming if they can't even speak to each other - even assuming that nobody figures out the history between them. As the least experienced member of the cast, Katie isn't under any illusions about her chances of keeping this job if the dynamics between Morgana and Gwen don't work.

"Is everything okay?" Colin asks her, frowning.

"Fine!" Katie lies, giving him a broad smile. "It's just nerves. Big role, meeting Richard and Anthony, you know how it is."

"Right," Colin says kindly, and Katie wonders if some sense of Irish solidarity is making him look out for her. "I've got a bit of that myself, but it wears off. After a few days of filming you'll be fine."

Katie glances across the room to where Angel is running lines with Richard. "I hope you're right," she says.

She sleeps fitfully that night, dreaming of soft hands and silky skin, and when Angel approaches the next morning Katie nearly panics.

"I've been thinking that we should --"

"Talk, yes," Katie says quickly, "I agree. Best to get it over and move on."

"I was going to say that we should run lines," Angel replies dryly, and Katie feels like the world's biggest idiot. "But we should probably talk, too. What's done is done, but it's behind us, right? There's no need for us to have any problems working together."

"Of course not," Katie says, faking assurance that she doesn't feel. "Besides, it was only one night. Not a big deal at all."

Angel smiles at her, eyes dark and warm, and Katie's heart skips a beat.

Working with Angel both does, and doesn't, gets easier with practice. On the plus side, they move beyond the initial awkwardness, and it helps that Katie's days are so busy rehearsing and filming. On the minus side, the better Katie gets to know Angel the more she ... oh fine, she'll admit it, the more she fancies her.

It takes only a few days for Katie to discover that Angel is not only beautiful, but a fantastic actress who can convey as much emotion with one fleeting expression as Katie does with a whole scene. She watches Angel's face at every opportunity, and tells herself that this is just part of learning on the job - which is true enough to be not entirely an excuse.

The development of what Bradley calls a 'bromance' between himself and Colin -- "The Gay Prince Arthur headlines just write themselves," Angel says, rolling her eyes -- means that she and Angel spend an increasing amount of time together when they're not working. Over many cups of coffee Katie learns about Angel's favourite books and films, the contents of her iPod and her taste in clothes. Angel's wardrobe turns out to be a lot girlier than hers, but after Angel borrows Katie's hoodie then Katie feels justified in nabbing one of Angel's dresses. She's a few inches taller so the skirt is shorter on her, but judging from the way Angel's gaze lingers on her thighs the effect isn't too bad.

Once they move from Cardiff to Pierrefonds, Katie sees a whole new side of Angel: her wicked sense of humour. Bradley and Colin run around like hyperactive teenagers, darting into one another's rooms and doing stunts for the video cameras, and their "Je Suis Loser" sign starts a prank war. Angel establishes herself as the winner after smuggling a giant spider into Bradley's bath-tub, eliciting an unmanly scream that is audible from the far end of the corridor.

Katie never hears Angel scream, even on the dodgy-looking French roller-coaster, but she sings along to cheesy songs in the mini-van, and one memorable night is persuaded to do karaoke. They all make drunken fools of themselves in front of the locals - who seem particularly startled by Anthony's rendition of Rocky Horror - before staggering home. For a moment Angel hesitates outside Katie's door, but the next moment she just brushes a hand over Katie's shoulder, murmurs "goodnight" and walks on.

Katie curses her luck, finds her vibrator -- again -- and settles in for yet another night fantasizing about an anonymous woman who looks exactly like Angel. As long as she doesn't think of the woman as having Angel's name and personality then it doesn't count as creepy and inappropriate. She's just recalling the woman with whom she had a one night stand, so it has nothing to do with her working relationship with Angel. No matter how many times Katie tries to convince herself, the justifications still sound pitifully weak.

As it turns out, Katie and Angel do end up in bed together, but not in the way she hoped.

"I'd like to see the physical contact between you," Johnny explains, as Katie lies in bed and tries not to stare at Angel's boobs, which in her defence are rather emphasised by the costume and at eye-level. "Embrace like you really mean it. We want this to come across like they're friends, not just mistress and servant."

Katie does her best to repress thoughts about embracing Angel in an entirely non-platonic way, and takes several deep breaths to clear her head before they did the scene again.

Before the incident with the flowers, Katie has almost convinced herself that this is nothing more complicated than friendship.

"I wish I really was given flowers this often," Katie quips when Angel is handed her prop, and Angel's eyebrows shoot up.

"Just because it would brighten up the hotel room, "Katie adds quickly. "It's not that I mind being single. The last thing my life needs is some kind of courtly romance."

Angel gives her long, unreadable look, and then the signal comes for them to start the scene and the moment is lost.

When Katie returns to her hotel room that night she finds a bunch of red tulips outside the door. She gathers up the bouquet, and in the privacy of her room inspects the flowers for a card. There's no card, but Katie knows who they're from and she smiles at the thought of Angel buying them for her. As she searches for something to put the flowers in, Katie reflects that working with someone you've slept with might turn out very well indeed.

After the tulips, Katie expects something about their relationship to change: secretive smiles, lingering touches, perhaps even an invitation back to Angel's trailer or room. Instead, things just continue as ever, cordially professional, and her hopes wilt like a bud in the frost.

The subject of romance doesn't come up again until they're discussing goals and future projects over lunch one day, and Angel mentions that she was in a lesbian movie.

"It was just a walk-on part," says Angel, taking a bite out of her muffin. "I'm looking forward to playing romantic lead in Merlin, if show gets extended."

"That's kind of ironic," Katie replies without thinking, and then inwardly curses. "Not that I'm making assumptions about your sexuality! I'm sorry, that was a stupid thing to say."

"Actually, it was kind of ironic," Angel says, breaking the tension. "Both the leads were straight, and maybe I'd have brought a bit more, y'know, authenticity, but you get the parts you get. I try not to second guess casting decisions."

"So you are...queer then?"

"You're the last person here I expected to ask me that," Angel says, lowering her voice, and Katie blushes.

"I just try not to make assumptions about people. I've had friends who experimented, and I know that's not the same as actually being gay, or bisexual, or whatever."

"So, what about you? Are you experimenting?"

"I'm...not sure yet," Katie says, summoning the courage to meet Angel's eyes. "I think to be sure, I'd need to continue the experiments."

Angel leans in slightly towards her and Katie thinks that _finally_ something might be about to happen, at which point Bradley plonks his plate down beside them and starts talking about horses, apparently unaware of what he's interrupted.

In the end, regardless of all the warnings about professionalism, it happens on set.

"If I have to go up any more stairs in this fucking bodice I might just collapse," Katie pants, leaning against the wall of the castle. "When I used to lace people into these things I had no idea how uncomfortable they are."

"I'm happy to unlace it if you'd like," Angel says, pausing to wait for her.

"That is such a line," Katie says, challenging her to deny it, and Angels laughs.

"All right, yes. But I figured one of us had to say it, 'cos this subtle flirting isn't getting us anywhere."

"Where did you want it to get you?" Katie asks, raising an eyebrow, and Angel steps towards her.

"I heard you had some experiments to conduct" she says, close enough that Katie could lean in and kiss her, "and it might take a few weeks to get an adequate data set."

"I can't believe you just tried to pick me up with the words 'data set'."

"Don't you pretend to be cool with me, Katie McGrath, I know about your X-Men comics and nerdy glasses. And I've heard your treatise on the historical authenticity of Bradley's armour; you talked about that for nearly an hour."

"I can't be held responsible for anything I did when drunk --" Katie begins, but Angel cuts her off.

"I'll do this when you're sober, then," she says, and steps in, curling an arm around Katie's neck to draw her into a kiss.

The kiss only lasts a few seconds before the sound of someone approaching startles them apart, but what happens that night in Angel's bed - and on the desk, and in the shower - is well worth the wait.


End file.
